What We Do Online & On-the-Ground
Online
This WGC community of practice provides many forms of dialogue, information sharing and learning. As in any community, the strength and power of Women’s Global Connection comes from the contributions of the participants. We welcome you to become a member of the community. We encourage on-line interaction that is respectful and appreciative of diversity in thought and expression through these portals.
Sharing Stories
A space to share stories and strategies of working for personal, social, economic and political change in our local communities.
Cross-Cultural Dialogues
Facilitated discussions among co-learners and teams engaged in a learning, leadership or research projects.
E-Library
Ongoing collection of our community memory and tools for research.
On-the-Ground
2007 was a time of rapid development in our field programs in Zambia and Tanzania. In Mongu, Zambia, we held the Teacher Training Institute, four weeks of training with 30 under-prepared teachers, and began the on-line mentoring program with 8 of them, which is progressing far better than we had ever expected as they work with beginning teachers. WGC has the first staff member in Mongu, who coordinates this program. Additionally, we have four Zambian partners collaborating with us in this program.
With our support, Masupa Nzila Women’s Cooperative held the first Women’s Economic Conference in Mongu, Zambia for over 100 women, bringing a new visibility to women in the region.. One of our volunteers, Tere Dresner spearheaded the start of a revolving loan fund for the Masupa Nzila Cooperative with a seed grant.
In Tanzania, the Bukoba Women’s Empowerment Association jumped into a whole new level of development, opening an office and hiring their first staff person. The soy and nutrition program, incubated through WGC, is going strong. BUWEA has strengthened their commercial farming project, which allows them to connect with 150 women in 27 cooperatives in surrounding villages. They are connected in local networks with government agencies and are developing their reputation as an empowerment agent for women.
Hekima Secondary School in Bukoba has achieved the ranking of 6th in their zone of over 200 schools. They are fast becoming a school of choice in their area for girls, while surviving on very minimal resources. They attribute a great deal of their success to the technology infrastructure and teacher training that WGC has helped them secure.
The Reach-Out Africa immersion trips were a great success. Throughout the year, 21 individual trips occurred to Africa, 2/3 of them were financed by the volunteers, themselves. The Educational Forum we held in September at UIW, where 17 of our volunteers gave testimony to their learning, was demonstrated evidence of the power of these experiences for personal and professional growth.